Sometime during 1982-1984: Blakesburg, Iowa

This was the first auroral display I ever saw, but I haven't a
clue exactly when it happened. I remember telling a particular
science teacher about it the next day at school. I think he was
either only there when I was in 9th grade or possibly both 8th
and 9th grade. 9th grade would place the sighting during late
1983 or early 1984, which would have been on the tail end of
Cycle 21 activity. The next time I'm home, I will search
through my yearbooks and find out when that teacher was at
Blakesburg High.

Blakesburg is a very small town and I noticed the display while
biking home from a friend's house after dark. It must have been
before my usual 10pm school night curfew (actually, if it had
been in 8th grade I'm not sure I could stay out that late; in
9th grade I couldn't stay out until 10pm every night),
because I went back out and found a good spot to watch it for
5-10 minutes. It was a faint display with an arc and one ray up
to 30 degrees.